Scuba diving vs free diving certification?

[dumpsterDiver]

No idea: we were just goofing around, had no depth gauges, nor very many opportunities to go straight down to any significant depth in clear warm water. Edit: according to these guys: ????????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ? ????? ??????? most sites there are at 5-15 m, I must've done about 10 there. I don't remember having fins at the time. Eric's right, though: the ability to swim to the bottom of a 7-or-so-m well and sit there for a couple of minutes does not translate to ability swim straight down for 30 seconds or whatever it'd take to cover 40m in decent fins. So I take it all back. Now of course I wonder: if I were growing up where there was easy access to deep clear water, would I have SWB'ed my a** out of existence before reaching puberty?

Cool.. so you've been to 30 ft snorkeling.. I'm glad you "take back" the comments about how trivial a 40 m freedive depth is.

 

[dmaziuk]

Cool.. so you've been to 30 ft snorkeling..

Yeah, when I was like 12. No snorkel, no mask, no fins, no apnea training. Some 6 years of swimming so not entirely unschooled.

I'm glad you "take back" the comments about how trivial a 40 m freedive depth is.

I'm pretty sure if I had a monofin at the time I wouldn't try going to 40 m only because the bottom was nowhere near that deep.

Where I grew up about the deepest site was the bottom of the pool under the 10 m platform. Lakes and rivers aren't much deeper than that, plus they're cold, dark, and there isn't much to see in the muck. Not much fun.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

OMG, I am not sure where to begin. To quote DD with editorial assistance from Eric, Don't believe half the [-]stuff[/-]crap you read on scubaboard.

About a year and half ago, I decided to take up free diving. I wanted to try something different and get wet without all the scuba gear, streamlined or minimal as it is. As a DM, that guides in SE Asia and loves to dive in current-rich and remote areas, I thought that serious freedive training would make me a safer DM and diver. It would also allow me to freedive with silence and calmness. The free dive training was perhaps the best experience I've encountered in a long time. My first three day class was challenging. It combined learning how to relax using yoga and training in the water. My second round of training was equally outstanding. From learning how to rescue a companion from 30 m, learning how to equalize traveling down the rope, dealing with pressure, static and dynamic apnea training, and yoga that focused on breath inhalation and exhalation. I always wondered, could I ditch my gear and fin up 40m to the surface on less than one breath hold, or could I safely free dive and explore the underwater world at 20m. Free dive training has transformed my scuba diving, from freedive fins and high quality slick skin wet suits, to efficient and streamlined free dive kicks, and mostly importantly the skills that allow me to free dive with a peaceful silence.

To safely free dive to 20 m, let alone to 40 m is an absurd assertion. I had to unlearn automatic habits from scuba, in order to equalize deeper than 25m. Based on my limited experience, dynamic apnea in a pool does not scale to free diving in open water. Free diving blends mental calmness, relaxation, and yoga in a beautiful underwater world. charlie

I'm curious.. so for scuba do you now use:

A freedivers rubber belt?
A freedivers skin in wetsuit?
A freedivers long fins?
A freedivers low volume mask?